Y’all know its Mardi Gras season,right? I don’t decorate a lot for Mardi Gras, but I try to get a few spots dressed up.

One of the easiest places to decorate with a theme is my mantle. I am happy to say that my “Happy Mardi Gras”mantle has turned out to be one of my favorites.

My Mardi Gras mantle has decorative crowns, beads that I actually caught at Mardi Gras and St. Patrick’s day parades, ribbon , a wooden fleur-de-lis, and a Mardi Gras banner. The fleur-de-lis and the banner came from my new favorite store, the Basket Factory. My mantle looked cute and I thought I was finished with my Happy Mardi Gras mantle.

However, as time went on I realized that I liked the mantle decor, but it seemed like something was missing. I have seen some really beautiful, over the top Mardi Gras decor down in the south where they really celebrate Mardi Gras. I wasn’t aiming for their grandeur, but I did want it to feel festive and fun.

So I went back to square one. I added more of the wide purple mesh ribbon around the crowns for more texture and color. It was better, but still not what I wanted. Finally, it occurred to me what was missing. Lights!

I had picked up a string of battery packed jewel lights to use at my niece’s wedding. They are so pretty and remind me of small diamonds! These small lights really put out a good amount of light. I draped them across the mantle, winding them through the ribbon.

Now the color and the texture of the ribbon shows up. The beads shimmer in the light and the gold crowns glow, especially at night.

Purple curly ribbon was added here and there through out the vignette for a little more color and movement.

Overall, I am really pleased with my mantle. I think my Happy Mardi Gras mantle really is happy! It’s also fun, shiny and festive. Which is exactly what I wanted.

Rita,
Those little lights were a life saver at the wedding. The bride wanted an giant arbor with a chandelier hanging from it in the middle. We dropped the crystal chandelier when we were hanging it. E600 and scotch tape later, it wouldn’t light. So we wrapped this string of lights in the chandelier. In all honesty I think it turned out a lot prettier with all of the tiny lights! It’s just not a wedding without a little drama!